Proposals that specific plans be studied for the teaching of courses "about religion" as a curriculum subject in the public schools without compromising the Constitutional mandate of separation of church and state were accepted by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith yesterday. At a meeting of the ADL executive, Henry Epstein, Deputy Mayor of New York and chairman of the ADL national program committee, declared that the "ADL is not opposed to further study of specific plans to determine whether the objective facts about religion can be taught to public school children."
The executive committee, however, expressed both its "fears that teachers are not trained to teach such courses" and its "doubts whether children in elementary grades are qualified to discuss matters of faith in objective terms." The League drew a sharp distinction between "teaching religion as an instrument of indoctrination of sectarian dogma and the possibility of teaching ‘about religion’ as a secular school subject."
The ADL executive also: urged elimination of racial segregation from all Federal programs, noted a "marked improvement in the climate of civil liberties" in the past year, called on Mississippi authorities to press for a prompt solution of the murder of Emmett Till, 14-year-old Negro boy, asked Congressional action to support the Supreme Court’s decision on desegregation of the public schools and reaffirmed support of UNESCO.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
